Time for an upgrade
It's no use. No matter how you spin it, my computer is dying. To be honest, I'm surprised it's lasted as long as it has - ten years to the month. That's a long time in technology, and it's really beginning to show. It's a mac, which means it's pretty much built to last - but recently Apple have been stepping up their game considerably, updating software at a ridiculous rate, and slowly but surely retiring older models by making their newer software completely incompatible with my old, rusty hardware.
Trouble is, I've gotten used to the cosy world of mac, which means getting a new computer is a pretty expensive business. Still, whenever I have a go on a friend's PC I start freaking out. Call me a doofus, but I just can't figure out Windows. Too many options, too much 'stuff' going on. Where macs keep everything buttoned-down below the surface, PCs where their inner workings on their sleeve, just for the heck of it, it seems. Too much. PCs are, however, a heck sight cheaper than macs - according to a friend of mine I could get something just as powerful for half the price. What he doesn't understand is that I'm willing to pay that extra just for the peace of mind, the ease of use, the uncomplicated system, that goes with the mac.
So, if I really want to hang on to my mac habits - which I do - I'm going to need a loan. I reconcile this need with the fact that my old computer lasted so frickin long! All that time and I never spent a penny on her. The old beauty. Time to put that horse out to pasture now, though, and get my self one these new, gleaming-white stallions. (Metaphor over) I discovered that because I'm a student, Apple will give me some money off, and even throw in some freebies. Sucks that they cost so much though. My PC-lovin' friend told me that Apple make such a huge profit on their computers that they could afford, if they so chose, to sell them for the same cost as PCs. It's just that, because they have a monopoly on making the parts and manufacturing all the bits together, they can pretty much charge what they like. And so long as they have that holier-than-thou attitude and the designer thing going for them, they can charge what they want for what is billed as expensive quality. I'm dubious, really, as to whether they really are that much better; but I'm going to get me one anyway, purely because I am such a klutz when it comes to computers, and I figure it wouldn't be too clever to start learning a new system at this stage of my education.
So, loan it is. Not too big (not too small either), so I figure I'll easily pay it off later on.In fact this time I'm determined to do a bit of online loans research rather than settle for whatever rip off loan my bank offer me. Hell, this may be the last entry written on this hunk o' junk. If so, Farewell my dear. You've been a doll.
Posted on Wednesday, June 11, 2008 @ 11:12 AM by Carolyn Norris
Summer Staples
Here in America we have some rather interesting and sometimes destructive obsessions. There are a few areas of our daily lives that are so buried in history and primal thoughts that we have just allowed them to become parts of our lives forever. Many things such as our cars are have become much more than a utility as they are in Europe. Here they are like they opinions; everyone has one whether they are well taken care of or not. A whole subculture has grown out of our obsession with cars. This is one one example that could be extrapolated out and scrutinized all day but I have something much more interesting to talk about today.
Every year where I grew up there was a carnival that would come to our neighborhood and set up in the park down the street for a whole week. It began in the week before memorial day and would last all the way through till the next tuesday. Though we all had school and our parents still had work all week long, it felt different. It felt as though something special had blown through town and we had to soak it up as if this fantasy would slip away right before our eyes.
In other countries the carnival scene is nothing new. Our own design and roots of carnival culture comes from Europe without a doubt. The difference here, as with our love of automobiles, is in the way our history has transformed the carnival in to something of a myth. It is one of the few parts of our own culture that still exists as a nomadic system. This can partly explain why we are so excited when we see the same old rides and the same games every year. We know what we are going to do and we know what the foods tastes like, but it’s not about that. Our love of the carnival goes much deeper than that. We like the transient nature of the carnival that exists right to its core in the vacant lots and firehall parking lots. When you see the rides setting up you can almost hear the laughs and see the smiles from the last town and when they go they take something from you down the road while we stay.
I don’t think that I will ever get over the carnival culture and I hope that our country doesn’t either. This is one tradition of the past that I think just serves to bring us together as a culture. If we let the old world of cowboys and circus freaks slip away then we lose a big part of the American myth, even if it wrought with troubles and inequalities.
Posted on Tuesday, June 10, 2008 @ 10:31 PM by Carolyn Norris
Parisian Lady
So, I went to Paris.
Just like that. Well, it wasn't just like that, but in the grand scheme of things (i.e. my education), I pretty much upped it and headed out. Remembering that I don't actually go out and party that much because of my age, and I work pretty hard, my targets are hit, met, and papers written. It's not that I don't take my work seriously; quite the opposite in fact. I haven't been to Paris since I was in my early twenties and actually it's one of those cities that take me seriously. I just6 thought a cultured trip to a European city would be the thing, and it was. A few days in Paris, was the break I needed, and deserved.
I started off in the artistic part of Paris, once home to Van Gogh and Lautrec, which was like a small village with winding streets, boutiques and cafés, even through the throngs of tourists (just like me) tended to shatter the illusion, it was pretty dreamy and romantic.
I then went to check out the famous Sacré-Coeur standing pristinely at the top of Paris' largest hill. Then, in the style of Nicole Kidman, I powdered my nose in Chanel and painted my lips in red before heading to Le Moulin Rouge, a well loved gem in Montmartre. I was lucky enough to catch its current show - Féerie - with other droves of cabaret fans.
The Cemetery of Montmartre, sometimes known as the necropolis thanks to the graves shaped like miniature houses, is the burial place of musical genii such as Berlioz and Offenbach as well as the literary figureheads Stendhal and Zola. It was eerie and atmospheric, and reminded me of the books I had read that took this setting as a background; in particular a Joanne Harris novel.
I wandered further - trying to be as sensual and interesting-looking as possible, and found Le Studio 28 - a cinema devoted to avant-garde and independent films. It was once a meeting place for the likes of Jean Cocteau and Luis Bunuel and for cinema enthusiasts it remains a spectacle not to be missed. I sat and watched a film by myself, and felt serene and grown up (despite already being a fully grown woman!).
There are plenty of excellent value places to stay, eat and drink in the Montmartre area, from high class hotels to basic youth hostels. I chose the Woodstock Hostel - this trip was fairly impromptu and it wasn't ideal, but it served a purpose: I was safe and warm.
Thankfully I had remembered my travel insurance. I lost an old, antique watch I bought from a tiny little boutique in Saint Germain and it was worth many euros. I confess I did actually cry - I was so annoyed with myself; I'd just bought it and must have left it in a cafe. Anyway, my policy with AA Travel will at least be able to reimburse the cost.
That is pretty much the size of it - it all feels like a dream now of course, because it really was: a lovely, floaty dream where I got to play the part of a sophisticated French dame!
Posted on Friday, June 06, 2008 @ 9:53 AM by Carolyn Norris